California parents plead with Gov Newsom to keep daughter's 'maniac' killer behind bars
The parents of a 13-year-old girl who was run over by a suicidal driver in Malibu in 2010 are appealing to California Gov. Gavin Newsom to stop the felon from being released after a parole board approved his suitability to be released.
Michel and Ellen Shane lost their daughter, Emily, in 2010 when Sina Khankhanian went on a maniacal 17-mile drive along the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), wildly weaving between vehicles at high speed before eventually plowing into Emily and killing her.
Emily, described by her parents as a carefree, fun-loving teen who enjoyed sports and dancing, was returning from a sleepover at a friend’s house and had been walking on the side of the road to her usual pickup spot to meet her father when Khankhanian ultimately took her life.
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Khankhanian, now 41, was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison in 2012. He said he was upset and had suicidal thoughts over losing his job days earlier, while his attorney at the time also argued that Khankhanian did not fully comprehend what his actions could lead to that day due to his autism.
He was granted parole by a parole board in June 2023, but that decision was reversed by Newsom in October 2023.
In October 2024, the board again approved Khankhanian’s parole and release, but Newsom has so far not intervened, meaning the prisoner is on the verge of becoming a free man, much to the ire and frustration of the Shanes.
"The only person that has a decision is Gov. Newsom or the team that reviews all of these [paroles] and makes a recommendation to him," Michel told Fox News Digital.
The couple say Khankhanian remains a danger to society and is unrepentant for killing their daughter.
Michel recollected that fateful day and said that Khankhanian, who was driving a 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer, actually tore past him moments before he hit Emily.
"While I was sitting at the light waiting to turn, I saw this guy driving, and he was in a Mitsubishi, and he was breaking lanes, driving into traffic, going on the shoulder, like, 75, 80 miles an hour, and I'm sitting there going, ‘Oh man, is this going to ever end badly. This looks terrible,’ and never thinking that we would be the victim," Michel said.
When Michel arrived at the pickup spot to collect Emily, there was no sign of her, and after frantic calls to his wife, they soon realized that Emily had been involved in the incident.
"He hit Emily. He threw her 30 feet in the air, and she fell," Ellen said. "She actually hit a sign first and then she fell. His car went up an embankment, flipped, and it came out without a scratch."
"We found out that this man… had left his home in a trailer park… and had driven for over 17 miles like a maniac. We also found out he had written a suicide note before he left."
Ellen said one of the most difficult parts of the tragedy was listening to the fire chief’s testimony in court where he revealed his conversation with Khankhanian shortly after Emily was pronounced dead at the scene inside an ambulance.
"He said, and these are his exact words, ‘I don't give a f---.’ That's what he said, and then he said, ‘That b---- deserved to die,’" Ellen said, quoting the fire chief.
An eyewitness who arrived on the scene and asked Khankhanian to get out before his car exploded, said Khankhanian responded to her by saying, "F--- you. Leave me alone. F--- off. I want to die. Just leave me alone," according to court documents. The eyewitness said she found Emily on the ground, around 30 to 40 feet from Khankhanian’s car.
Ellen said she is a forgiving person and if Khankhanian had said it was an accident and begged for forgiveness, then she would have found it in her heart to do so.
"I would, as hard as that is, with the most significant loss, the worst loss that a person could have of losing their child, but this was not the case," Ellen said. "This was a man who intentionally hit a young child walking, and he was utterly remorseless. Utterly."
According to court documents, Khankhanian told investigators he had four glasses of wine and took pills belonging to his fiancée before he got behind the wheel. He had been fired from his veterinary clinic job two days earlier due to his "erratic" behavior and left a suicide note next to his fiancée's bed instructing her to tell his parents that he was "gone" and "will never return."
Khankhanian’s former attorney, Bradley Brunon, argued at trial that his client’s autism prevented him from appreciating that his actions posed a risk of death for himself and others.
"His psychological conditions prevented him from thinking ahead to the likelier possible consequences of his reckless driving. That testimony was clearly established in the trial," Brunon told Fox News Digital.
He said Khankhanian did not intentionally set out to kill Emily and that he should instead have been charged with vehicular manslaughter, which carries up to 10 years in prison.
"It wasn’t intended, and he had no criminal record at all, so the time he has spent in custody is adequate punishment," Brunon said.
The couple says Khankhanian has been playing up his autism diagnosis to "game the system" for a release. Khankhanian was previously diagnosed with autism, Tourette's syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder.
In court, Michel said Khankhanian was catatonic, acting as if he couldn’t understand proceedings, but in prison tape recordings with his girlfriend, the Shanes say he is perfectly normal while discussing the case.
"So this guy is capable of deceit and actually quite clever and being able to present himself in a way that to get a result that he wants," Ellen said.
Khankhanian apologized to the Shane family just before he was sentenced in June 2012, saying he was "deeply sorry" for the pain and grief he had caused them.
The Shanes say they do not believe it was sincere.
The couple want Khankhanian locked up for longer than his 15-year sentence but say even if Newsom does reverse the ruling, Khankhanian could reapply every year until he is ultimately released. That prospect means the Shanes will end up fighting against his release every year until he’s set free, reliving the tragedy every year before Christmas.
"It's brutal because … it's not bringing Emily back from the dead and putting her back in our life," Michel said. "So when this happens, it brings us back to 2010. It brings us back to [the] death of a 13-year-old. Even though we see her friends now, they're 27, 28 years old, they're young women. But in our mind, our child is stuck at 13, so it's brutal because we literally have to relive it and then argue why should the man who killed a child be allowed out."
"And honestly – and Ellen’s much more forgiving than I am – I [couldn't] care less as far as I'm concerned, he could rot in jail. But if he should be let out, he shouldn't be let out … as a 40-year-old having his whole young life available to him. Wait till he's 60, wait till he’s 55 so that the majority of his youth is gone."
Right now, they are hoping Newsom will act and are trying to raise awareness and hope others will write to the governor. The couple says they have received the support of other lawmakers such as state Sens. Ben Allen and Henry Stern, but so far they have not heard from Newsom on a possible parole reversal.
Khankhanian received a proposed grant of suitability on Oct. 22 after a parole suitability hearing. Newsom's office says that the decision is subject to a review by the board’s legal office.
"If the board’s decision becomes final within 120 days after the date of the parole hearing, it is then subject to review by the governor," a spokesperson for Newsom's office tells Fox News Digital.
"The Governor’s Office has not received Khankhanian's case again from the Board of Parole Hearings. If he does, it will be reviewed carefully."
In his 2023 reversal of the parole, Newsom stated that the evidence showed Khankhanian posed "an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison." Newsom wrote that Khankhanian made efforts to improve himself in prison by engaging in self-help programming, taking college courses and working as a teacher’s aide.
However, he noted that Khankhanian had "demonstrated inconsistent treatment compliance" over the last few years at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility and State Prison in Corcoran, Kings County.
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They say he was off his medication at the time of the incident and therefore can’t be trusted to stay on the pills should he be released.
Despite their ongoing grief, the Shanes have sought to make some good come out of their loss.
Michel, who was the executive producer for movies such as "Catch Me If You Can" and "I, Robot," has become a road safety advocate and made his own documentary to shine a light on the notoriously treacherous 21-mile strip of the PCH – much of which has no sidewalks for pedestrians or lacks substantial embankment – and he is developing a mobile app game to teach young people about driving.
There were 537 crashes resulting in 779 injuries and 23 fatalities from 2018 through 2023, according to California Department of Transportation data. In 2023, four Pepperdine University students were fatally struck on the PCH as they walked to an event, and their deaths are discussed in the documentary.
The couple also sought to remember Emily by creating a nonprofit in her name, the Emily Shane Foundation, which provides personalized academic learning and mentoring to middle school students with learning difficulties.
Ellen said Emily had mild learning difficulties, too, and the initiative is a way of honoring her memory. So far, the nonprofit has helped more than 1,100 students in 14 schools across Los Angeles, and the couple says they are always looking for donations to help fund the program.
"It’s interesting how a tragedy, probably the worst tragedy, has changed the entire trajectory of my life," Ellen said, adding that it's become her "life's passion."
"I cannot tell you how incredibly rewarding it is to see these children … be instilled with confidence and motivation, realize that there are no limits to achieving their goals and dreams. That, to me, is so rewarding and significant and a beautiful testimony to Emily. So, it's interesting how things unfold in life."